Spanish Art Song events bring Flamenco rhythms to campus July 25-Aug 1

Fort Worth, TX

7/14/2009

TCU School of Music will host the Project Canción Española Summer Institute of Art Song in Spanish. Many of the works performed at three public concerts will be having their Texas premieres. Project Canción Española is based in Granada, Spain. Schedule of public performances:

Designed for singers, pianists, and guitarists, this Institute is a seven-day experience that includes master classes and individual coaching with masters of the repertoire, along with basic courses in Flamenco rhythm and movement, diction instruction, and sessions on repertoire. The faculty includes Spanish vocal coach/pianist Jorge Robaina, and the flamenco faculty, Juan Miguel Jimenez and Antonio Vallejo — direct from the historical Albaicin of Granada —Arden Hopkin, professor of voice at Brigham Young University and Sheila Allen, professor of voice at TCU.

The TCU Institute of Art Song in Spanish is directed by Dr. Sheila Allen and by Nan Maro Babakhanian, who created the Project Canción Española in Granada, Spain to promote the rich heritage of Spanish art song repertoire and establish standards for Spanish lyric diction.  “Nan Maro is one of the most persuasive and respected advocates of art song in Spanish and we are delighted to be part of the movement to give Spanish-language compositions the recognition they deserve,” said Joel Lester, dean of Mannes College New School for Music, where the first two U.S. Institutes were held.  TCU is thrilled to add the Institute of Art Song in Spanish to its outstanding Latin American Music Festival and other offerings celebrating this vital part of our musical heritage.

“Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world, yet I went through my whole undergraduate and conservatory experience in the U.S. without ever hearing anything about singing in Spanish,” said Nan Maro Babakhanian, who now lives in Spain.  “Most conservatories aren’t covering it, and people simply don’t know that a vast and wonderful repertoire exists. That’s why the Summer Institute of Art Song in Spanish is such an important step in the right direction.”